Ten death row inmates already challenging Tennessee's lethal injection protocol were permitted by a judge yesterday to amend their lawsuit to include objections to the use of the electric chair, the Tennessean reports. The General Assembly passed a law earlier this year allowing prisoners to be electrocuted if Tennessee Department of Correction officials were unable to obtain the drug used for lethal injection. The death row plaintiffs say the new law violates the U.S. and Tennessee constitutions. Among other things, they say it violates evolving standards of decency and that the law is too vague.

Mayoral candidate Charles Robert Bone has hired Kim Sasser Hayden as his campaign manager, the Nashville Scene reports. Sasser Hayden's resume includes directing statewide field operations for Gov. Phil Bredesen's elections, managing former U.S. Rep. Lincoln Davis' reelection campaign in 2004 and serving as regional field director for Al Gore's presidential campaign in 2000. The Ingram Group, led by Republican kingmaker Tom Ingram, will advise the campaign and April Orange, of the Bredesen political tree, will lead the campaign's fundraising effort. Both John Van Mol, a former advisor to U.S. Sen. Bill Frist, and Ken Whitehouse, a former Nashville Post scribe and political operative, of public relations firm DVL will advise on communications and marketing.

Congress' must-pass budget bill ignores the Obama administration's request to accelerate spending on immigration courts to handle the flood of unaccompanied minors at the border, WATE reports from the Associated Press. Immigrant advocates complained that House Republicans who wrote the bill focused on detaining Central American youths and families who crossed the border while ignoring the need for more immigration judges to hear their cases, and lawyers to represent the youths. "The resolution includes only funding for the prison staffing and no accelerated spending for the judges who hear their legal claims," said Michelle Brané, director of the Migrant Rights and Justice Program at the Women's Refugee Commission.

The semi-annual National Drug Take-Back is a chance for citizens to safely and legally dispose of unused prescription drugs, keeping them out of the environment and the hands of children, as well as those who might illegally sell or consume the drugs. In Bradley County, the event will take place Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Criminal Investigations Division entrance, on the south side of the Bradley County Judicial Center. This event has been coordinated by the Bradley County Sheriff’s Office and the U.S Drug Enforcement Administration. The Chattanoogan has the story.

Pilot Flying J has asked a federal judge to dismiss several lawsuits filed against the company in connection with a diesel fuel rebate scheme. Pilot last year reached an $85 million civil settlement with trucking customers, but several companies opted out of that settlement and pursued their own litigation. In a motion filed with the court, Pilot argued among other things that racketeering claims filed by some plaintiffs failed to adequately allege the elements of a RICO conspiracy, and that certain fraud claims failed the "particularity requirements" of the law. On the criminal side,10 former Pilot employees have pleaded guilty in the case. Prosecutors have said the criminal enforcement agreement with the company does not protect other individuals from prosecution. Knoxnews has more.

The Tennessee Board of Judicial Conduct has dismissed a complaint filed this summer against Supreme Court Justice Gary Wade by activist George Scoville, Tom Humphrey’s Knoxblog reports. “Both disciplinary counsel and the investigative panel investigated and considered your complaint very seriously and felt it raised an area of concern that has been addressed, however the panel decided the complaint did not rise to the level of judicial misconduct that is required for disciplinary action to be taken in the form of a reprimand or censure,” Board Chair Chris Craft wrote in the letter dismissing the complaint.

The 15th Annual Shelby Bottoms Boogie 5K run/walk and 15K race will be held Saturday at the Dripping Bird Activity Area in Shelby Bottoms Park. For the seventh consecutive year, this Nashville Striders race event benefits CASA Nashville. Registration is $30 in advance and $35 on race day, with day-of registration and packet pickup beginning at 6 a.m. The 5K will begin at 7:30 a.m., and the 15K will begin at 7:40 a.m. Awards will be presented to the top three male and female finishers in various age groups for both the 5K and 15K categories. For more information or to register, vsit the CASA website. 

Dignitaries from across the state gathered in Knoxville today to mark the formal investiture of Tennessee Supreme Court Chief Justice Sharon G. Lee, the Administrative Office of the Courts reports. Lee, who was elected to a one-year term as chief justice by her fellow justices, outlined several goals she has for the judiciary. She suggested a “top to bottom review” to see how the courts can be better stewards of tax dollars and deliver services more efficiently and effectively. She also emphasized the need for better use of technology, such as the implementation of electronic filing systems. Lee also talked about the contentious retention elections and noted how they had put the judiciary in the spotlight and underscored the need for fair and impartial courts. “Tennessee got a civics lesson about the importance of checks and balances and the necessity of a separate and independent judiciary,” she said. “Our courts play a fundamental role in protecting individual rights, providing predictability to business and in guaranteeing the fair functioning of our government.”

The Tennessee Senate Judiciary Committee held two hearings this week to discuss criminal justice reform in the state. Led by Sen. Brian Kelsey, R-Germantown, the group focused on what other states are doing and what Tennessee should do to reduce prison populations and recidivism. The committee heard from a wide range of interest groups on the matter, from the ACLU of Tennessee on the left to the nonpartisan VERA Institute of Justice in the middle to the conservative Heritage Foundation on the right. Oddly enough, the groups agreed on many of the fixes, the Tennessean reports. They also share the view that Tennessee has a criminal justice problem: it locks up more people than most states but had the highest rate of violent crime in 2012.

The Chattanooga office of Legal Aid of East Tennessee (LAET) won the second place $10,000 prize at the “The Greater Race” last Saturday morning in downtown Chattanooga in celebration of the Community Foundation of Greater Chattanooga’s 50th anniversary. The foundation selected 25 Chattanooga non-profits it has funded in the past to take part in the geo adventure race. Each of the selected organizations supplied a team of four racers on bicycles and two additional volunteers.